READER REPRESENTATIVE

I have to admit that it did not strike me as that big a deal at first. As I was sitting in the Kirkland House Dining Hall, one of the heads of Room 13, a campus peer counseling service, approached me to complain about a column in Fifteen Minutes titled "Prank Files." She explained that the author of this column, William L. Kirtley '97, had prank-called Room 13, telling the counselor there that he was depressed over Harvard's fall to number three in the U.S. News and World Report rankings.

Kirtley's column, a "Jerky Boys" take-off which has been published since last year, reprinted conversations between Kirtley and his unknowing victims. He has, in the past, called University Health Services, University Mental Health Services and the Bureau of Study Counsel.

This complaint came after one of the heads of Room 13 had spoken to the editors of FM in the hopes that the Kirtley article would not run. But it did. When Room 13 did not pursue the dispute any further, that seemed the end of it. But it wasn't.

According to Kirtley, a University employee from the Bureau of Study Council Ad Boarded him for the prank call to Room 13 a few days after the column ran. When the Ad Board met, Kirtley was placed on disciplinary probation. Kirtley's parents received a letter, and his transcript now proclaims that he was on probation during the first semester of his senior year.

In his own defense, Kirtley wrote an editorial for The Crimson's Oct. 21 opinion page, in which he argued that "everything I had done was legal, was in good fun and hurt no one." Kirtley claimed that the Ad Board punished him for engaging in "inappropriate social behavior," an ambiguous term which he argued could be interpreted to mean anything. I am most concerned, however, with Kirtley's accusing the Ad Board of violating the "freedom of the press."

As a result of Kirtley's editorial, the Undergraduate Council is considering a proposal asking the Ad Board to reconsider the decision. Thomas J. Kelleher III '99 and Sozi T. Sozinho '97, two of the proposal's sponsors, also wrote to The Crimson. In his letter to the editors, Kelleher argued that "all members of the press at Harvard should take notice. They too could be punished for what they write." Along the same lines, Sozinho argued that the Ad Board had put in jeopardy the freedom of the press and "First Amendment rights."

As a result of the controversy, Crimson President Todd F. Braunstein '97 met with Dean Archie Epps. During the meeting, the dean promised a letter clarifying the adminstration's respect for the freedom of the press. But Braunstein also said he realizes that "Crimson reporters should not be above the law."

Indeed, the hysteria that Kirtley, Kelleher and Sozinho are inciting about the adminstration's violation of the freedom of the press is largely specious. Kirtley was not Ad Boarded for writing a column. On the contrary, he was Ad Boarded for making a prank phone call. In other words, the Ad Board does not only consider prank phone calls made for publication a violation of University rules but all such phone calls. If I had been sitting around making prank phone calls for fun and someone reported me, I too would be punished although I never had any intent to publish.

The real question, as far as Kirtley goes, is did he actually violate a University rule and if not, is the "inappropriate social behavior" clause too vague to legitimate punishment? Furthermore, did Kirtley have a previous record with the Ad Board that caused them to act more harshly than they would have normally? These are legitimate questions that should be discussed. What critics of the decision should be discussing is the legitimacy of the punishment, not the freedom of the press.

Still, I support Braunstein's meeting with Dean Epps. If the University's support for the freedom of the press is placed in plain terms on paper, hopefully, future hysteria can be avoided. In this instance, however, the freedom of the press was not violated.

Shawn C. Zeller '97 is The Crimson's reader representative, or ombudsperson. He may be reached on e-mail at szeller@fas.harvard.edu or at home at 493-2490. He is not a Crimson editor or executive, and his opinions are his alone.